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Long-hitting Jim Dent, known as one of the best Black golfers of his era after going from the caddie yard at Augusta National Golf Club to winning a dozen times on PGA Tour Champions, died on May 2, according to his family. He was 85.

Born on May 9, 1939, in Augusta, Georgia, Dent grew up caddying at both storied Augusta National, home of the Masters, and nearby Augusta Country Club. At the 1956 Masters, Dent caddied for Bob Rosburg, who went on to win the 1959 PGA Championship and become best known as a TV commentator after his playing days. “We shot 41 on the back nine or we might have won,” Dent recalled.

As a child, Den’ts father, Tom, drove a pulpwood truck and owned wooded farmland not far from Augusta Country Club. The fourth of six children, Dent’s job on the farm was to make the fire in the morning.

“I was big enough to do that,” Dent told the USGA. “I was still real young when my parents died, but there was my aunt. Her name was Mary Benton, a great lady in my life.”

Dent’s mother, Carrie, died when he was six. His father died when Jim was 12. Benton, a housekeeper at one of Augusta’s big houses, raised Jim and three of his siblings with a firm hand.

“The first time I caddied, I got a whuppin’,” Dent told USA Today in 1990. “My (Aunt) had told me not to. She said if I hung around with caddies, I’d learn how to gamble and drink. You know, a lot of those guys had those brown paper bags in their back pockets.

“But you know how it is. If your mother tells you not to cross the street, not to go to a certain place, if you’re an adventurous kid, sooner or later, you’ll go there.”

In another retelling of this story, he added, “Second thing I learned how to do when I learned how to caddie was shoot dice and play cards. She was dead right.”

For Dent, every loop was an opportunity to closely study elite players and apply their techniques to his own swing. By the time he was 15, Dent started to excel at the sport. He and his buddies would sneak on the back nine of Augusta Country Club late in the afternoon and play until dark. Later, he would be allowed to play there on Friday morning in exchange for cutting crabgrass out of the greens.

“There was also Augusta Municipal Golf Course, where we could play,”Dent recalled. “And I had a friend of mine who would take me to Fort Gordon, an Army base with a good course.”

Dent stood 6-3, 225 pounds, and was a talented tight end. He attended Paine College, a small, Methodist school in Augusta, on a football scholarship, although he didn’t stay long. A year later, his urge to play golf led him to Atlantic City, where he made ends meet caddying at local clubs and as a waiter.

‘I played every day until 3 or 3:30, because I didn’t have to be to work until 4:30 (p.m.),’ Dent said. ‘I was young then, I never got tired.’

He did get tired of that life, however. ‘I felt like I was in jail, working inside and looking out the window,’ he says. “I wanted to work outside. I was lucky. I met a guy, Mo Stevens, who offered me a job in Los Angeles. Every morning, we’d go to Compton College’s football field and hit balls until school started.”

Dent cut his teeth playing in events hosted by the United Golfers Association, a tour that attracted the top Black golfers from across the country before the Tour integrated. He turned pro in 1966. Dent won three times on mini tours, including the $100,000 Queen Mary event. He failed qualifying school four times before making it in 1970 at age 31. Only once ($55,095 in 1982) did he win more than $50,000 or finish among the top 60 money-winners. 

‘In his career on the PGA Tour, Dent was known for one thing, and one thing alone: driving the golf ball,” wrote Jeff Williams in Newsday. “No one came to see Jim Dent putt. No one came to see Jim Dent chip. You came to see Jim Dent hit it a mile and see if the ball was in one piece.”

Dent hung around for more than 16 years without a victory while earning more than $560,000. 

“To have caddied and now be out playing with these guys, you don’t think that’s a big thrill?” he once said.

Despite facing racial barriers that limited opportunities for Black golfers during his early career, Dent said he faced little discrimination on the Tour.

“You know, I never had any problems because Charlie Sifford, Pete Brown and Lee Elder, those guys just kind of paved the way,” he said. It was Brown, the first Black golfer to win a PGA-sanctioned event at the 1964 Waco Turner Open, who took Dent under his wing.

‘Pete kind of took me around the first six weeks when I was on Tour, you know,’ Dent told The Augusta Chronicle. ‘That was a blessing. Here was a man already established and he can let me hang around and learn some of the ropes there.’

Dent was reborn at age 50 when he became eligible for the Champions Tour, winning 12 tournaments between 1989 and 1998. He finished in the top 10 on the season-long money list seven times on the senior circuit, winning more than $9 million.

‘I didn’t work on what it took to beat ’em back then,’ said Dent, explaining his senior success. ‘Chipping, putting, patience. Those are the greatest things.’

In 2020, the road leading to Augusta Municipal Golf Course, aka “The Patch,” was renamed Jim Dent Way in his honor. Dent also was inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame in 2022 as well as the African-American Golfers Hall of Fame. His journey in the game was a testament to what’s possible when passion meets persistence. 

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‘Roundball Rock,’ the NBA anthem written by John Tesh and popularized during the NBA on NBC from 1990-2002, will return to NBC when the network begins broadcasting games next season as part of the NBA’s new TV deal.

NBC announced the renewed partnership with Tesh and the song Saturday during its coverage of the Kentucky Derby.

“It’s a thrill to announce that ‘Roundball Rock’ is coming home,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said in a news release. “ ‘Roundball Rock’ is one of the greatest pieces of theme music in sports history. Hearing it immediately conjures images of NBC Sports’ coverage of one of the golden ages of the NBA, from Magic (Johnson) to Michael (Jordan) to Kobe (Bryant) and many others. It was a pleasure working with John Tesh to bring ‘Roundball Rock’ back to NBC, and we’re equally excited to hear its debut on Peacock. We couldn’t imagine beginning our coverage any other way.”

Said Tesh: “I’m truly honored to be back with my friends at NBC Sports. From our first meeting, Rick Cordella had a powerful vision for bringing ‘Roundball Rock’ back to its one true home. Along with millions of other fans, I’ll be front row center for the epic launch in the fall.”

The idea for ‘Roundball Rock’ came to Tesh in the middle of the night, and without a recorder to remember the song, he left a voice mail of himself doing the song a capella.

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The Los Angeles Clippers have been tabbed as having one of the best home-court advantages throughout the 2024-25 season.

The Clippers moved into the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, this season.

The new arena cost $2 billion to build and is owned by Steve Ballmer, who also owns the Clippers. The arena features a 38,000-square-foot halo-like video board over the court and a 51-row section known as ‘The Wall,’ which is reserved for some of the team’s rowdiest fans.

Denver Nuggets interim coach David Adelman spoke about the impact of ‘the Wall’ before Game 3 of the series.

‘It’s just really loud… I love what they’re doing here,’ Adelman said. “The NBA needs more of that. More creativity. That’s what we used to know when I grew up… I miss that, so it will be cool to be a part of it.”

What Adelman likely didn’t expect was to see members of the Wall in Denver during the series.

With the Clippers on the road for Game 7 of the Western Conference first-round series, Ballmer decided to bring fans to Denver.

The team owner reportedly paid for flights and at least 120 seats in a single section at the Ball Arena.

ESPN reporter Ramona Shelburne pointed out that the seats are located right next to the Clippers’ bench and under the basket where the Nuggets are expected to shoot during the second half of the game.

The Clippers split the first two games against the Nuggets in Denver. Those two games were decided by a combined total of five points. The Nuggets managed to blow out the Clippers, 131-115, in Game 5.

Steve Ballmer greets Clippers fans in Denver

While it remains unclear how Ballmer managed to get access to a section of seats, Ballmer was spotted before Game 7 asking the fans to ‘bring it today.’

Ballmer has been featured on the broadcast of Clippers’ games in recent years for providing high energy and enthusiasm. These are attributes that aren’t commonly seen from NBA team owners sitting courtside at games.

For the fans who didn’t make the trip to Denver, the Clippers are hosting a free watch party outside of the Intuit Dome.

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Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado entered their names in the horse racing history books after winning the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3.

The race was completed in 2 minutes and 2.31 seconds on a fairly wet track.

Citizen Bull led a majority of the race before Neoequos took over before the final turn. Journalism briefly pulled ahead with the lead before Sovereignty pulled ahead down the final stretch to win the race. Journalism entered the race as the favorite.

Alvarado was set back by an injury in the weeks leading up to the derby that included a trip to the hospital. He also fell off his horse but was not injured during the Thurby race earlier in the week.

‘I can’t even describe it,’ Alvarado said in a post-race interview in the moments after the derby. ‘I’m pretty sure (my family is) way over the moon right now.’

2025 Kentucky Derby official results

  1. Sovereignty
  2. Journalism
  3. Baeza
  4. Final Gambit
  5. Owen Almighty
  6. Citizen Bull
  7. Neoequos
  8. American Promise
  9. Admire Daytona
  10. Luxor Cafe
  11. Burnham Square
  12. Flying Mohawk
  13. East Avenue
  14. Publisher
  15. Tiztastic
  16. Render Judgment
  17. Coal Battle
  18. Sandman
  19. Chunk of Gold
  20. Rodriguez — SCRATCHED
  21. Grande — SCRATCHED

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Veteran sportscaster Mike Tirico is a late scratch at the 2025 Kentucky Derby.

Tirico, who has led NBC Sports’ Triple Crown coverage since 2017, was on the call Saturday for the network ahead of ‘The Run for the Roses’ on a rainy and cold day at Churchill Downs, but eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Tirico appeared to be less than 100%. Tirico had to step away from the Kentucky Derby coverage in Louisville shortly after 3 p.m. ET due to feeling ‘under the weather.’

Although it wasn’t clear if Tirico would return for the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, which has a post time set for 7:02 p.m. ET, Fareed later shared around 6 p.m. ET that Tirico wouldn’t return after suffering from an allergic reaction.

‘We want to tell you that (Mike) does have a nut allergy. He had a reaction earlier today,’ announced NBC Sports host Ahmed Fareed, who took over for Tirico on the NBC Sports desk on the racetrack. ‘He is feeling fine now, but he is just going to stay on the sidelines. Mike, I know you are listening right now. I hope you are feeling better and get back to yourself very soon.’

Social media users pointed out Tirico didn’t appear to be his usual self during the broadcast. ‘Mike Tirico sounds like he should be in bed sleeping, not covering the Derby,’ one social media user wrote, while another added, ‘Why are we pretending like Mike Tirico is ok. Something is very wrong.’ Others pointed out that Tirico’s legendary voice that has become a staple on NBC Sports airwaves was not up to par today: ‘Mike Tirico’s voice might not make it to the end of the Kentucky Derby telecast.’

What happened to Mike Tirico? Social media reacts

Here’s how social media reacted to Tirico’s departure from Kentucky Derby coverage.

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  • The Fever fan base has another reason to love its team, and the anti-Fever contingent found another reason to complain. Her name: Sophie Cunningham. She was trending nationally during her Fever debut.
  • Cunningham scored a game-high 21 points Saturday against the Mystics, and was thrown to the court by two different Mystics players in the second quarter as fans online loved it … or hated it.
  • The Fever beat the Mystics 79-74 in overtime with Caitlin Clark (leg) in street clothes. New players DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and Cunningham combined for 41 points and 20 rebounds.

INDIANAPOLIS – Mystics rookie Kiki Iriafen threw Fever veteran Sophie Cunningham to the ground, and then Brittney Sykes shoved Cunningham to the ground. It was only the first half of the first preseason game for the 2025 Indiana Fever, but you had to wonder: Could the noise around our city’s WNBA franchise, which reached a fever pitch last season, get even more … feverish?

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Olympian Simone Biles may be the GOAT in gymnastics, but she found herself horsing around at the 2025 Kentucky Derby.

Biles gave the ‘Riders Up’ call ahead of the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, a legendary command that informs jockeys to mount their horses. The Olympian donned a lavender ensemble from The Hat Girls, a three-time featured milliner of the Kentucky Derby. Biles paired her lavender strapless mini dress adorned with diamonds with a fascinator and matching eyeshadow.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, the city of Louisville, the commonwealth of Kentucky and sports fans from around the world have been waiting for this moment, Riders Up!’ said Biles, who then blew a kiss.

Biles follows in the footsteps of A-list stars and athletes that have given the ‘Riders Up’ call at the Kentucky Derby, including Martha Stewart (2024), Patrick Mahomes (2023) and Jack Harlow (2022). Other superstars to give the command include Hall of Fame horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas (2021), Baker Mayfield (2019), Laila Ali (2018), Jeff Bridges (2017), Sean Payton (2016), Teddy Bridgewater (2015), Julius Erving (2014), Charlie Strong (2013) and John Calipari (2012).

Biles is in town with her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, and her mother, Nellie Biles. Like Biles, Owens was also dressed in lavender on Derby Day and paired a purple fedora and suit jacket with white trousers. The couple arrived in Louisville on Friday and even enjoyed their ‘first mint julep’ at Churchill Downs.

‘We love being able to do event together, because it’s not super common when we are in the same room at the same time celebrating something so special,’ Biles told the USA TODAY Network from the Derby red carpet.

As for Biles’ Kentucky Derby pick? She fittingly selected Chunk of Gold out of Gate 17 She does have seven Olympic gold medals to her name, after all. But Chunk of Gold is going to need some luck. Starting gate No. 17 is still looking for its first champion since the post started being used in 1930.

Watch: Simone Biles gives ‘Riders Up’ call

Livvy Dunne gives ‘Riders Up’ call at Kentucky Oaks

Biles isn’t the only gymnast milling around at Churchill Downs. LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne gave the ‘Riders Up’ command at the Kentucky Oaks, which is held annually on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby.

Who performed the national anthem at Kentucky Derby?

Grammy-nominated artist Grace Potter was tapped to perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Churchill Downs ahead of the Kentucky Derby.

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Good a coach as Gregg Popovich was, and he was one of the best, he’s an even better American.

Time and again, Popovich used his platform to demand better of his country and fellow citizens. Gun control. Voting. The fraudsters who once before and are now again shredding the Constitution and the rules of law, caring only about themselves and not the people they were elected to serve.

Popovich knew he was probably rubbing some San Antonio Spurs fans the wrong way by weighing in when he thought it necessary. Probably gave the front office heartburn, too. But he did it, anyway, recognizing that democracy is a verb, something too many in this country don’t seem to get.

It’s easy to thump your chest and claim to be patriotic, and much harder to actually do the work required for a free and just society. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, Popovich’s service took him to what was then the Soviet Union. He saw firsthand what happens to a country when it’s ruled by craven men who care more about enriching themselves than the people they lead, how quickly freedom can be hollowed out when citizens don’t have a right to self-determination, and he wanted no part of that.

For Popovich, love of country meant holding it to account. Challenging America to live up to the freedoms and ideals promised to us, and demanding answers and action when we fall short.

“Being a patriot is somebody that respects their country and understands that the best thing about our country is that we have the ability to fix things that have not come to fruition for a lot of people so far,” Popovich said in 2019, when he defended Colin Kaepernick’s protests against police brutality of Black and Brown people.

“All the promises in the beginning when the country was established is fantastic, but those goals have not been reached yet for a lot of people,” Popovich said. “… Being a critic of those inequalities does not make you a non-patriot. It’s what makes America great, that you can say those things and attack those things to make them better. That’s what a lot of other countries don’t have. You lose your freedom when you do that.”

Popovich is notoriously gruff, and holding court with the media held about as much appeal for him as a root canal. But with his background — he grew up in East Chicago, Indiana, a Rust Belt town still reeling from the shuttering of steel mills and the job losses that followed — and status as a five-time NBA champion coach, he knew he had a chance to reach people who might tune out his plain, hard truths if they heard them from someone else.

Popovich did more than just talk, though. When he hired Becky Hammon in 2014, she became the first full-time female assistant coach in any of the major men’s sports.

Though Popovich had long been a proponent of equality, he didn’t hire Hammon for show. Popovich had gotten to know Hammon when she was playing with the San Antonio Stars, and believed she was the best person for the opening he had on his staff. (She’s more than proven him right, winning two WNBA titles with the Las Vegas Aces.)

‘I don’t even look at it as, well, she’s the first female this and that and the other,” Popovich said in 2015. “She’s a coach, and she’s good at it.” 

But representation matters, and Pop’s hiring of Hammon paved the way for other women to get jobs on NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB staffs.

‘A person had to come along that didn’t care about gender. They care about how you do your job,’ Hammon once said of Popovich.

Popovich was the ultimate coach. Whether it was his players or his country, he was always pushing for more, knowing there was room for improvement and refusing to settle for less.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The only two winners of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix will start on the front row for the fourth edition of the race.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – the reigning four-time F1 champion who won the 2022 and 2023 Miami races – won pole position in qualifying on May 3 for the May 4 race at the Miami International Autodrome around Hard Rock Stadium.

Verstappen and partner Kelly Piquet welcomed their new daughter, Lily, before he arrived in Miami for the race weekend. And he’s shown no signs of slowing down despite fatherhood – a quirky myth in F1 circles that drivers tend to lose some speed, or edge, once becoming a dad.

“Clearly, it doesn’t make me slower being a dad – so we can throw that out the window with people mentioning it,” Verstappen said during a post-qualifying press conference. “I’m getting pictures and Facetimes here and there. Now, there’s one more member in the family.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris, who won the 2024 Miami race and the Sprint race earlier in the day before qualifying, will start the 2025 race in second position.

“I’m very happy with the end result, but it’s a shame I can’t sit on pole. That’s the frustrating bit,” Norris said after qualifying.

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, the 18-year-old newcomer to F1, will start the Grand Prix in third place. The youngster was shy about predicting where he could place in the Sunday race after an already eventful weekend – where he became the youngest driver to qualify for pole in any race for the Sprint, but finished 10th.

“I don’t really want to say because it goes directly wrong,” Antonelli said. “But I’m going to just try to have a good start and set a good pace with Max and Lando. And we’ll see the weather.”  

For the first time in the Miami Grand Prix’s history, rain affected the racing during the Sprint before qualifying.

Norris won the Sprint race thanks to a safety car – the same fashion he won the Grand Prix last year. It was deployed after two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) was bumped by Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) with about four laps to go in the Sprint.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc aquaplaned and crashed into the wall between Turns 9 and 10 running south of the stadium about an hour before the Sprint began and could not participate in the race.

Leclerc will start the Grand Prix in eighth place, while his new Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton will start in 12th despite placing third in the Sprint.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, the leader in the F1 Drivers’ standings, will start fourth in the Grand Prix. He’s won three of the five Grand Prix already this season (China, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia), and finished behind Norris during the Sprint race.

Mercedes’ George Russell will start in fifth. Williams Racing teammates Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon will start sixth and seventh, respectively. Haas driver Esteban Ocon will start in P9, and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda rounds out the top 10.

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This did not look like the Golden State Warriors team NBA fans have come to know.

The Houston Rockets stole the will of the Warriors in Game 6 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, winning 115-107 and pushing back Golden State for the second consecutive time when the Rockets were facing elimination.

So, now, it’s the Warriors who must go on the road in a winner-take-all Game 7 against a young Houston team that is playing with extreme confidence. All the while, Golden State will try to avoid becoming the 14th team to blow a 3-1 series lead in the playoffs.

Credit the Rockets and coach Ime Udoka for unlocking several schematic advantages the Warriors simply cannot answer. For one, the double-big lineup that features centers Alperen Şengün and Steven Adams on the floor at the same time attacks the most glaring weakness the Warriors have — a lack of height and interior presence. For another, Houston has deployed its speed and athleticism to harass the Warriors on the ball, forcing turnovers and creating easy transition opportunities. Udoka has also sprinkled in a zone defense that Golden State has had a tough time solving.

But beyond that, the Warriors let themselves down with their effort and intensity. Multiple times Friday night, Golden State appeared lethargic, slow and — oddly — unmotivated or defeated.

When Golden State opted to intentionally foul Adams, a 46.2% free throw shooter, to put him on the line, the Warriors gave up two offensive rebounds to Şengün despite expecting Adams misses.

After the Warriors fought back to close the deficit to two points at the end of the third quarter, Golden State was slow to line up after the break, leading to a Fred VanVleet four-point play six seconds into the period. Golden State’s lack of effort spiraled, and it trickled into its offensive operation; the Warriors missed 15 of their first 16 shots in the fourth quarter, allowing the Rockets to build a 17-point lead in the period.

Although coach Steve Kerr said after the game that he did not think fatigue played any role in the loss, Golden State looked very much like a team with multiple aging veterans. And although he stopped short when asked about his team’s effort, Kerr instead pointed to that play at the beginning of the fourth.

“I didn’t like our first half with the turnovers — I think we had 10 — and that’s the key to the whole series, our ball security,” Kerr told reporters after the game. “And so (that) got us off to a rough start in the first half.

“With that said, we’re down two going into the fourth. I thought the key play was the four-point play to start the quarter. That’s on us as a staff. We’ve got to make sure they’re matched up. … That felt like a game-changing play because, like I said (it was) a two-point game and right where we need to be, despite not playing well and turning it over quite a bit.”

The Warriors had been impressive down the stretch after trading for Jimmy Butler in February. But another one of the team’s shortcomings has been the lack of offensive support Stephen Curry and Butler get at times from their teammates. Curry and Butler combined for 56 points; the next leading scorer was Moses Moody with 13.

Back in the 2016 NBA Finals, the Warriors held a 3-1 lead over LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kerr was the coach and Curry was the star player. That Golden State team squandered the series lead and the Cavaliers took the championship in Game 7.

If the Warriors don’t ramp up their intensity and intention before Sunday, they may blow yet another 3-1 lead.

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